A bumper paddy production has brought smiles to farmers with the government heaving a sigh of relief with a hundred percent of the crop already harvested without facing any natural or other disaster.
Earlier, the people as well as the government were tense over boro paddy harvesting due to Coronavirus outbreak and monsoon rainfall. But the anxiety is now almost over as the paddy harvesting is nearly complete.
According to information received from the government official sources, about 98 percent of the paddy harvesting in haor (wetland) areas is completed while 33 percent of paddy harvesting in other areas completed.
Official sources said almost 60 percent of the total rice demand is fulfilled by the Boro paddy crop while the rest is met by Aush and Amon paddies.
According to sources, a total of 879 machines were used for Boro paddy harvesting, which helped farmers harvest the paddy rapidly.
Besides, more than 3,50,000 labourers took part. The government, mainly the police and local administrations helped in the transportation of the labourers from one place to another place. The highest number of labourers were transported from the Northern areas to the Haor areas.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina played a vital role with her directives for the welfare of the farmers as well as the people of the country. The directives of the Prime Minister inspired the workers and activists of different political parties and social organizations and police to help farmers in the paddy harvesting voluntarily.
While talking about this, Dr. Abdur Razzak, Minister for Agriculture, said, "We were worried about paddy harvesting in Haor areas. Now, with the help of God, we are no more worried about it. We are as happy as the farmers who were able to take the paddy to their houses without any loss.
“We think there will be no more food crisis in the next 6-7 months. Then I will give the highest importance to Aus Aman,” said the Agriculture Minister and further said that the whole world is talking about a food crisis, and our Prime Minister has also given instructions to produce more food. If we can produce more food as per the instructions of the Prime Minister, we will be able to extend the hand of humanity to other countries. The Prime Minister called upon all to come forward to pick the paddy for the farmers. As a result, a social awareness was created in the country and many people came forward along with party leaders and workers. We took initiative to supply workers from different districts, provide machinery which created a festive atmosphere for harvesting paddy in Haor areas during the virus.
We have already started working on Aus, Aman thinking about the future. So far, farmers are getting good prices for their paddy, he said.
Chandidas Kundu, director of Field Wing for Agricultural Extension, said that although the target of boro cultivation had been set at 48 lakh 8 thousand hectares of land this year, it has finally reached 48 lakh 55 thousand. However, we hope that the field yield will exceed our production target. He further said that this can be a beacon of hope for our country in the face of a global food crisis in the days ahead if we can bring the crop home properly.
Agricultural officials and various rice traders say the government needs to reassure those concerned that if the Boro crop is harvested well at home, no one can increase prices by keeping stocks intact. After 5-6 months of this crop, the guaranteed yield of aman will come again. This year, the target for boro paddy production has been set at 2 crore 4 lakh 36 thousand metric tons. About 20 percent of this target will come from Haor.
According to BBS, the total rice production in the country in 2018-19 was 3.84 billion tons. Of this, 54 per cent came from Boro, 34 per cent from Aman and eight per cent from Aus.